2 KINGS
OBSERVATION:
ORIGINALLY, 1 KINGS AND 2 KINGS WAS ONE LONG BOOK. LATER IN HISTORY, THE TWO WERE SEPARATED MAKING TWO BOOKS. JEWISH TRADITION NAMES JEREMIAH AS THE PRIMARY AUTHOR, ALTHOUGH IT IS NOT CLEAR WHO WROTE THE TWO. THE WRITINGS APPEAR IN SOLOMON’S REIGN. LATER IN HISTORY TWO KINGDOMS EMERGE, JUDAH, THE NORTHERN KINGDOM AND ISRAEL THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM. KEY CHARACTERS ARE JEROBOAM, AHAB AND ELIJAH A PROPHET.
INTERPRETATION:
READ 2 KINGS 17: 7-8
POINTS TO PONDER:
GOD PREVIOUSLY SENT MOSES TO DELIVER THE ISRAELITES OUT OF EGYPT. WHILE JOURNEYING TO THE PROMISED LAND AARON AND HIS SISTER BUILD A FALSE GOD TO WORSHIP. THIS PRACTICE WAS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN IN LEVITICUS 18:3 AND 20-23). GOD HAD WARNED THEM AGAINST INTERMARRYING WITH HEATHER NATIONS. THEY HAD TAKEN THE WAYS OF THE HEATHEN EVEN DEMANDING A KING TO RULE THEM. ASSYRIA CAPTURED ISRAEL AND BABYLON CAPTURED JUDAH. THIS IS THE RESULT OF LACK OF FAITH IN GOD’S LEADERSHIP.
WAS EITHER ISRAEL OR JUDAH SUCCESSFUL IN THEIR SIN? WAS THE SUCCESSFUL IN ALL THAT IS BEAUTIFUL, TRUE AND GOOD? DID THEIR DISOBEDIENCE ADVANTAGE THEM?
JEREMIAH 17:9 (AMPLIFIED BIBLE) THE HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS, AND IT IS EXCEEDINGLY PERVERSE AND CORRUPT AND MORTALLY SICK! WHO CAN KNOW IT (PERCEIVE, UNDERSTAND, BE ACQUAINTED WITH HIS OWN HEART AND MIND)?
APPLICATION:
GOD IS A COVENANT GOD AND DEMANDS OBEDIENCE!
